Page 89 - The Hobbit

underneath us and the forest beginning to blaze in places, when the goblins came

down from the hills and discovered us. They yelled with delight and sang songs
making fun of us. Fifteen birds in five fir-trees…"
"Good heavens!" growled Beorn. "Don't pretend that goblins can't count. They

can. Twelve isn't fifteen and they know it."
"And so do 1. There were Bifur and Bofur as well. I haven't ventured to
introduce them before, but here they are."
In came Bifur and Bofur. "And me!" gasped Bombur pulling up behind. He

was fat, and also angry at being left till last. He refused to wait five minutes, and
followed immediately after the other two.
"Well, now there are fifteen of you; and since goblins can count, I suppose that

is all that there were up the trees. Now perhaps we can finish this story without
any more interruptions." Mr. Baggins saw then how clever Gandalf had been. The
interruptions had really made Beorn more interested in the story, and the story had
kept him from sending the dwarves off at once like suspicious beggars. He never

invited people into his house, if he could help it. He had very few friends and they
lived a good way away; and he never invited more than a couple of these to his
house at a time. Now he had got fifteen strangers sitting in his porch!

By the time the wizard had finished his tale and had told of the eagles' rescue
and of how they had all been brought to the Carrock, the sun had fallen behind the
peaks of the Misty Mountains and the shadows were long in Beorn's garden.
"A very good tale!" said he. "The best I have heard for a long while. If all

beggars could tell such a good one, they might find me kinder. You may be
making it all up, of course, but you deserve a supper for the story all the same.
Let's have something to eat!"
"Yes, please!" they all said together. "Thank you very much!"

Inside the hall it was now quite dark. Beorn clapped his hands, and in trotted
four beautiful white ponies and several large long-bodied grey dogs. Beorn said
something to them in a queer language like animal noises turned into talk. They
went out again and soon came back carrying torches in their mouths, which they

lit at the fire and stuck in low brackets on the pillars of the hall about the central
hearth.
The dogs could stand on their hind-legs when they wished, and carry things

with their fore-feet. Quickly they got out boards and trestles from the side walls
and set them up near the fire.
Then baa-baa-baa! was heard, and in came some snow-white sheep led by a
large coal-black ram. One bore a white cloth embroidered at the edges with